My Books

Curse of the Double Digits

Humorous chapter book for ages 7 to 10

Becky is sure turning ten on the 10th day of the tenth month will be magical. The whole class is invited to her party, including Chad, the cutest boy in the fifth grade. So is Darlenie-the-Meanie.

Becky wants to look cute for her big day, but all her plans go wrong. Really wrong. The magic of turning ten disappears before she even has a chance to blow out her birthday candles. Things get so bad, she refuses to go to her own party.

Becky wonders if the Curse of the Double Digits will jinx her forever.

My friend, Maria Cisneros Toth, made this YouTube video for me as a birthday gift. How cool is that? She reads the beginning chapters of Curse of the Double Digits:

* * * * *

Monster Moon Series

by BBH McChiller (Lynn Kelley & Kathryn Sant)

Curse at Zala Manor

Book 1 in the fun, spooky Monster Moon mystery series for ages 8 – 12. It’s almost Halloween, and twelve-year-old AJ Zantony’s world is threatened by an ancient curse that releases wicked pirates who had been trapped for centuries in his Aunt Zsofia’s creepy mansion, Zala Manor.

The pirates–a vampire count, a pegleg skeleton, and a zombie–have three goals: to find a lost treasure, unleash the restless dead from their graves, and to settle a very old score by destroying the Zantony bloodline.

AJ has to stop them before midnight during Aunt Zsofia’s annual Halloween party. Except he has a big problem–monster phobia! He’s scared to death of monsters. But if he doesn’t act fast, the streets of Craggy Cove will be crawling with zombies.

Will AJ overcome his fear and stop the monsters or bail out? Will Craggy Cove become Zombie Central? Who will be alive when midnight tolls?

Secret of Haunted Bog

Book 2 in the fun, spooky Monster Moon mystery series for ages 8 – 12.

From the moment AJ and his friends, Emily Peralta and Freddy Hangman Gallows, step off the train in Old Chinatown, AJ s sixth sense kicks in, an omen of looming danger!

A mysterious fortune teller warns AJ and his friends of vile forces and impending doom, until the Day of the Jewel. AJ should have listened.

A shadowy stranger lurks in the crowded alleyways and spooks AJ by slipping him a bizarre card with a threatening message. Is it a joke or are AJ and his friends being stalked by a man in black?

In a twist of events, AJ and Freddy end up lost in a dark and marshy bog, where they are surrounded by thick fog, creepy sounds, bizarre creatures, and ghostly apparitions.
In the depths of the creepy bog, they stumble upon a missing girl and horrifying evidence of toxic pollution. But somebody doesn t want them to escape. Who? Why?

Can AJ and his Zombuddies work together to uncover the secret of the haunted bog? Will they come out alive?

Legend of Monster Island

Book 3 in the fun, spooky Monster Moon mystery series for ages 8 – 12.

Listen, swabbers, to this kraken tale.
Treasure and scoundrels and setting sail.
Sinking ships and a ghostly wail.
Can AJ survive, or will the beast prevail?

Slimy tentacles slither out of the toilets and tangle with 12-year-old AJ Zantony and his younger cousin, Jasmyn, while they’re visiting Zala Manor, their great aunt’s creepy old mansion.

AJ’s buddy, Vlad, the pirate rat, stops by and pleads for help in saving his species from the creatures invading the sewers. AJ, Jaz, and their friends decide to risk everything to assist Vlad, plunging deeper into sea monster lore and facing the mysterious legends firsthand.

Is it worth sailing into an otherworldly storm and confronting evil scoundrels, scarred souls, and the most nightmarish beast imaginable? The dangers mount, increasing the chances that AJ and his friends will fall victim to the Legend of Monster Island.

Trio of Haunting Tales

Freebie! Get it now!

Trio of Haunting Tales offers three short stories for kids age 8 and up who love spine-tingling fiction. Great for reading aloud at ghost-story gatherings, such as sleepovers, around a campfire, in the classroom, or at home for a night of spooky, family fun.

Cyclops Clyde, a freaky computer monster, wreaks havoc both on and off-screen, taunting and paralyzing his victim.

In Night of the Howling Werewolf, Eric Lung searches out the bullies who jumped his best friend, Ben, and stole his bike. Things get weird on Slaughter Hill, the bullies’ favorite hangout.

Ghost Warrior kicks the fright factor up and will creep out even the bravest of souls. Connie worked overtime and now worries that she’ll be punished with extra push ups for being late to karate class, but push ups become the least of her problems when rival ghost gangs that haunt the parking structure claim first dibs on this mortal prey.

Stories From St. Anne’s Parish

Inside Book Flap:
“Merry as a Cricket reveals a world shaped by Catholic Faith, thought and practice. Here, being Catholic is part of children’s everyday lives. A companion volume to A PeekInto My Church, Merry as a Cricket presents two stories from St. Anne’s Parish, where readers will meet new characters and rediscover their already familiar friends, Liddy and Mark Bennett, and their orange marmalade cat, Mickey (who still isn’t allowed to go to Mass with the family.)

“In Merry as a Cricket, the children of St. Anne’s Parish come to understand why Mr. Demski, the parish grouch, is so grouchy; he is still mourning the death of his beloved wife, Ana. At the church carnival, loving friends and a mysterious clown help Mr. Demski rediscover joy and laughter.

“Every kid loves A Pocketful of Chocolate, especially this pocketful! In this story, the Bennett children celebrate St. Francis’ feast day with their pets, family and friends at St. Anne’s annual Blessing of the Animals. Before the celebration, Liddy and Mark befriend the new kid in the neighborhood, a lonely boy named Steven. When Steven joins the Bennett children at the Blessing, he finds an unexpected new friend.”

Get an autographed copy of Merry as a Cricket for $9.99. (Includes shipping and handling. This price applies to shipping in the United States only.)

Email me at lynkelwoohoo at yahoo.com if you are interested in this offer. Also, please leave a comment below so I can make sure your email doesn’t end up in my spam folder. Put ‘Merry as a Cricket’ in the Subject line so I get to it right away. Thank you!

Book Reviews:

Curse of the Double Digitsby Lynn Kelley

Poor Becky. All she wants is for her 10th birthday to be the perfect blend of special, awesome and amazing. What she gets is vastly different in so many ways. Why is the luck of the entire universe against her?

Curse of the Double Digits is that rare story that so perfectly captures the emotional roller-coaster ride of those in-between years. It lifts the reader on soaring high hopes, then dashes them to the ground in heart-squeezing panic and embarrassment. Becky’s tragi-comic journey is by turns poignant, laugh-out-loud-funny and tearful. Her stuttered growth through the turmoil is surprising and satisfying.

Lynn Kelley has a gift for capturing the heart and mind of a 10-year-old. The simple logic behind decisions that turn disastrous rings true, and the dialog is natural and real. Curse of the Double Digits is at once sweet, funny, and heartfelt.

Secret of Haunted Bog– Book 2 in the Monster Moon series by BBH McChiller (Pen name for Lynn Kelley, Kathryn Sant, and Maria Cisneros Toth)

ZomBuddies AJ, Emily and Freddy are back for more adventures. When Aunt Zsofia takes them on a trip to Chinatown on the edge of a saltwater bog they never suspected they’d end up facing down monsters, ghosts and gun-wielding bad guys. The bog holds many secrets, the most interesting of which is a young girl named Mei who claims to be hiding from the people who killed her parents. In their quest to help Mei the ZomBuddies will have to face down toxic bog water, mutated monsters and treacherous adults.

Secret of Haunted Bog is a fast-paced, fun tale. Similar in feel to the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys or Bobsey Twins, or even the more modern incarnation of Scooby Doo, it pits three courageous, stubborn kids against mysteries, supernatural and not. Engaging and exciting, Monster Moon makes for great in class or before bed reading. Definitely recommended for preteen collections.
Contains: Some gross out moments. ~Michele Lee ~Booklove~ (Louisville, KY)

Curse at Zala Manor– Book 1 in the Monster Moon series by BBH McChiller

“…Fast-paced suspense…Chapters are short and language is simple enough for reluctant readers. ”
~School Library Journal

“In the vein of “The Goonies” and “There’s a Batwing in My Lunchbox” comes Monster Moon: Curse at Zala Manor….This book has it all: secret tunnels and talking animals, mad science and real monsters. Perfect for in-class reading in elementary schools and early middle schools. Equal parts scary, mysterious, gross and silly, it’s pure fun. Definitely recommended for all collections aimed at fostering a love of reading.”
~Monster Librarian

“Funny…creepy, gross kiddo read.”
~Michele Lee, Booklove

“The Zantony family has a long history in the old pirate town of Craggy Cove. AJ Zantony knows he is different, but he never expected his premonitions of ghosts and zombies to lead to fulfilling his family legacy.

As his Aunt Zsofia prepares for her annual Halloween party at Zala Manor, AJ unlocks the remains of a long-standing curse upon the Zantony estate. AJ and his science partner, Emily, must discover the secrets of the Zantony family history to end the curse before midnight on Halloween.

As if that was not enough to keep AJ and Emily busy, they are also pursued by Calvin, Dirk, and Runt, the class bullies. Acting like real-life monsters, the three bullies are determined to make fun of AJ and Emily at all costs. Their antagonizing becomes a major hindrance in the fight against the haunting curse.

However, the two are not alone on this mission; AJ and Emily are helped by a mysterious rat who leads them through the dank and dark history of the Zantony family and Zala Manor.

This is the first of the ‘Monster Moon’ series by BBH McChiller, a trio of writers from California with varied backgrounds that add up to dynamic and vivid storytelling.”
~Children’s Literature Magazine

From Aghoo Review: Monster Moon: Curse at Zala ManorBBH McChiller 5 Stars for Story,
5 Stars for Cover Art,
5 Stars for Format/Quality,
5 Stars for Originality,
3 1/2 Stars for Read-Aloudability
Synopsis:
It’s almost Halloween, and twelve-year-old AJ Zantony’s world is threatened by an ancient curse that releases wicked pirates who had been trapped for centuries in his Aunt Zsofia’s creepy mansion, Zala Manor.
The pirates–a vampire count, a pegleg skeleton, and a zombie–have three goals: to find a lost treasure, unleash the restless dead from their graves, and to settle a very old score by destroying the Zantony bloodline.
AJ has to stop them before midnight during Aunt Zsofia’s annual Halloween party. Except he has a big problem–monster phobia! He’s scared to death of monsters. But if he doesn’t act fast, the streets of Craggy Cove will be crawling with zombies.
Will AJ overcome his fear and stop the monsters or bail out? Will Craggy Cove become Zombie Central? Who will be alive when midnight tolls?
This book is awesome! As a lover of the horror genre and ghost stories and mysteries this book really takes the cake. It has everything, from a creepy house to secret passageways, to ghost and zombies and more! I knew from page 1 that I would fall in love with the book. It is rich with family secrets that gives the reader an urge to keep reading.
My favorite series, even to this day, is Nancy Drew. I love when characters come together to solve mysteries and uncover hidden truths. The deeper and darker the secret the more interested I become. Books like this make me want to keep reading until my eyes are red and sore and I am so sleep deprived that the fiction of the book starts to seem real to me. I honestly can not say enough about how good the writing is.
The characters are very well defined. I like Aunt Zsofia and her curious vehicle of choice, a bright pink hearse. Even the last name, Zantony, is given depth as the kids journey to discover more about AJ’s lineage. I loved it. It truly had everything a person could want when reading a book. It lacked in nothing. Even the cover art is amazing featuring the two main characters in the book standing in front of a crypt that reads “Zantony”. This book is a must read!

Trio of Haunting Talesby Lynn Kelley

Lynn Kelley’s well-written tales mix horror with bits of humor. The first story ends with a word no victim wants to hear. The second shows that being a werewolf can sometimes be a good thing. In the third, a sword-weilding spirit routes ghostly thugs. Lynn takes her readers on three exciting rides. Her language crackles. So do her plots. ~The Sleeve